This unique furniture collection can provide the whole apartment or home with necessary power.
François Chambard from UM Project intrigued everyone with his innovative line of interconnected furniture called Patch. This is not just furniture, basically, it’s a real energy source, which is enough for a whole apartment.
Each piece of furniture has small batteries turning it into its own mini power station. With all the pieces connected, including a battery packed solar panel case/bench, it turns into a microgrid that can distribute enough solar energy to power a micro apartment. While most electrical networks are out of sight, Patch changes that by letting the connections and circuitry live on display. Patch charges in just eight hours with a run time of 24 hours without sunlight.
The green piece is outfitted with solar panels and is made from recycled HDPE plastic and aluminum. The blue piece houses a charging port and power outlet and comprises 250 glass-enameled interconnecting tiles. The yellow piece incorporates crisscrossing amble glass tubes and gold colored wires, an idea similar to a utility pole. The brown piece is made from 200 phenolic tubes, an old industrial plastic often found in early transistor radios. It contains built-in lighting and sound. And lastly, the red piece, which is a large light box, is made using printed glass panels that give a moiré effect.
